


Something More

by LunaWolfe



Series: Nora Taylor Series [1]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:29:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29727669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaWolfe/pseuds/LunaWolfe
Summary: Nora Taylor is good at her job. And it means the world to her. But when someone from her past comes back, will she begin to have regrets about what she's chosen in life?
Relationships: Danny Messer/Nora Taylor
Series: Nora Taylor Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184843





	Something More

The buzzing of her cell woke her. Grunting, Nora reached for the phone and flipped it open.  
“Hello,” she rasped.  
“Nora, we’ve got a case,” Mac Taylor said, no preamble.  
“Gotcha, Dad. Text me the address, please,” she swung her legs over the side of the bed and snapped the phone shut, throwing it onto the nightstand. She hurried into a pair of jeans from the floor and turned to look back at the bed. “Yo, Messer! Up and at ‘em! We got a case,” she demanded, throwing a balled up sock at Danny’s head. She and Danny had been fooling around for a few weeks now. When a case was stressful (and they usually were) they met up and blew off steam. She’d known Danny for nearly 6 years, and he was her best friend. It was strictly no strings attached when they hooked up.  
“Lemme sleep,” Danny begged tiredly. They had been up until after 2 a.m. working on finishing up a case. It was now a little after 6.  
“No can do. Boss man called himself.” She slid into her lace black bralette and grabbed the first discarded t-shirt she could reach. She shoved her feet into her boots and stood. “Lock up, will ya? See ya there.” Danny gave her a limp wave from the bed, and she snorted. She threw her leather jacket around her shoulders and made her way down to her Tahoe.  
…  
The Crestmont loomed in front of her, and Nora took a second to peer up. This place had always given her the creeps. Shaking herself, she made her way inside, flashing her badge at the patrol officer out front. She made her way to the elevator, taking it all the way to the 15 floor. She could smell the latex and print powder as she stepped out of the doors. She smiled. It smelled like home. Even before Nora became an investigator herself, her dad had been doing the job, and he always came home smelling like the tools of the trade.  
“Nora, over here,” Flack called, waving her over. She nodded and made her way carefully across the penthouse suite.  
“What have we got” she questioned, grabbing gloves from her kit and snapping them on.  
“Alexander Trenton. He was a judge. On his way to the Supreme Court.” Nora whistled and stooped to take a look at the body.  
“Looks like a through and through. Execution style,” she remarked, standing up.  
“Is that Danny’s shirt?” Flack questioned, wrinkling his forehead in confusion.  
She froze and glanced down at herself. It was indeed Danny’s shirt.  
“Oh, yeah. I spilled coffee on myself last night. He lent it to me, and it was just what I threw on this morning on the way out the door.” The lie was easy enough. She needed to be more careful.  
“Hmm. Well, you might wanna change before Mac gets here.”  
“Where is Father Dearest, anyway?”  
“Mayor wanted a word.” Nora rolled her eyes.  
“Of course.”  
“You guys start the party without me?!” Danny demanded, coming out of the elevator carrying 3 coffees.  
“Fashionably late, as always,” Nora teased, grabbing her camera to document the scene.  
…  
Nora was leaned over the desk in the print lab when someone spoke behind her.  
“Detective Eleanor Taylor?”  
“Nora,” she replied, placing her file down and turning around, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the light table.  
“We would like a word,” replied the man; obviously a federal agent of some sort.  
“We can talk in my office,” Mac replied, coming out of nowhere. He led the two agents and Nora to his office, where he shut the door.  
“What’s this about?” Nora asked. She didn’t have time for their bureaucratic crap.  
The second agent pulled out a file and passed it to Nora. “We believe you know this man.”  
Nora opened the file and felt her stomach tighten. “Jared Weston,” she said, the words threatening to choke her.  
“Yes. You attended North Peak Academy with him, did you not?”  
“That was years ago. Why are you here? I haven’t seen him in 7 years.”  
Another file was handed to her. She flicked through it briefly, spotting bloody crime scenes and pages of notes on victims. “Okay?” she asked, dreading the answer.  
“In the last 6 months, 6 judges, 3 military personnel, and 4 police have been murdered from Virginia, to Boston, to Delaware. The M.O. is all the same. And all evidence points to someone with a serious grudge against the government.” Nora felt the blood leave her body. She thought he was just an angry kid. Mad at his parents. She never thought he’d do anything like this.  
“If you know all of this. And you have evidence against him, why are you here?”  
“We’re always one step behind, but we got a lead on his next victim.”  
“Judge Trenton?” she questioned, feeling the pieces fall into place. The agents shared a confused face.  
“We thought he was a possible target, but Detective Taylor, we think you’re his next target.”  
“Me?! What the hell are you talking about?!”  
“Weston has it out for you. We found his manifestoes on our last case. He talks about how you betrayed him. And how you’re worse than any of the others.”  
“Betrayed him how?” Mac asked, speaking for the first time.  
Nora swallowed against a dry throat. “I need a minute,” she croaked, slamming out of the room, and making her way as quickly as possible to the roof, bending over, roughly hugging herself in a demand for oxygen.  
“Nora!” came the call, as Danny joined her on the roof. “Hey. Hey. It’s ok. What happened?” he demanded, pulling her into his chest.  
“We were kids! We were scared! And we were pissed that our parents sent us to a fucking military academy! That place was hell, Danny, and he was the only bright spot of it! How the hell does this happen?!”  
“Ok. Ok. Shhh. It’s ok. I’m right here. I gotcha.” He held her close, rocking her gently until she could breathe again. When he deemed it safe, he pulled her away a pushed a stray curl out of her face. “Now, tell me. What happened in there.”  
“Jared went to North Peak too. And we bonded. His mom and dad were both in the military. And he hated them for sending him away to be trained to be like them. And I was mad and Mac for sending me away to a military school upstate. I felt like he didn’t want me. Like I was a fuck up and he wanted to get rid of me and have something better. So, we would sit behind the bleachers and smoke cigarettes and drink beer and rage against the machine. I thought it was all just angsty teenage bullshit. Then the towers were hit. And Claire was gone. And I was devasted. She was the only mom I’d ever known. And she was gone. And I was scared. I was so angry, Danny. I remember just screaming at the stars and demanding to know why any of that bullshit had happened to us. And Jared, Jared sat with me all night and screamed too. And the next morning, Mac came and took me home to finish my senior year at St. Agatha’s. And I never saw Jared again. Truth be told, I didn’t want to. He reminded me of how ungrateful, and angry, and hurt I was, and I didn’t want that. But then I became a cop. And I betrayed him. I left him. And I don’t know what happened to him. But now he kills people, Danny. And he wants to kill me. And hell, maybe I deserve that.”  
“Hey! Look at me!” Grabbing her chin, Danny forced her to look up at him. “You do not deserve that. You were a child! And he was sick! And none of that was your fault! You did not do this! He did! You hear me?!” He pressed a firm but gentle kiss to her lips then her forehead and pulled her close again.  
…  
“We want to put you on 24-hour protection detail,” the FBI agent informed her, once she had relayed her story to them.  
“We can do that in house,” Mac stated, folding his arms over his chest. He knew his people could protect his daughter better than the feds ever could. She was one of their own, and they took care of their own.  
“I’ll do it,” Danny quickly stated, jumping into the conversation. He’d followed her back inside when she’d finally gained the courage to come in.  
“Ok, who else can take a shift?” the agent asked, raising a brow at Mac.  
“No, I mean I can be with her 24/7 until we catch this guy,” Danny said, standing straighter. The agent snorted, but Mac nodded.  
“Don’t let her out of your sight.”  
“Roger, Boss.”  
…  
Nora tossed her keys into the bowl by the front door and kicked her boots off. It had been a hell of a day, and she needed a drink and a hot bath.  
“I’m making myself a rum and coke and I’m gonna sit in a hot bath for an undetermined amount of time. Make yourself at home,” she informed, stripping her tee off and throwing it somewhere to her left.  
“Pizza tonight?” Danny asked, leaning over to look into the fridge.  
“Sure. Extra cheese.”  
͠  
By the time Nora made it to the bathroom, she was down to her underwear. She had a cold glass of Bicardi and coke, which she sat down beside her claw foot tub, turning the water on, making sure it was hot enough, and adding some mint soak. After putting some music on her record player, she slid into the warm bubbles, sinking up to her neck. She sighed, feeling at least some of the day’s tension melt away.  
͠  
Danny peeked into the bathroom, admiring Nora. She looked like a goddess, head laid back, surrounded by bubbles, singing softly to the Frank Sinatra playing in the background.  
“See something you like, Messer?” she teased, opening one eye and raising her brow at him.  
“Very much so,” Danny replied, coming in to kneel by the tub, dipping his finger under the water. “But, pizza’s here.”  
“Mmm. Good, I’m starving. Give me five, and I’ll be out.”  
“Sure thing.” Before leaving, Danny leaned down and gave Nora a deep kiss. “Don’t keep me waiting,” he urged, heading back to the living area.  
͠  
When Nora emerged, she was wearing nothing but an overly large Led Zepplin t-shirt and a pair of black boyshorts. Danny had already set up the tv to reruns of The Golden Girls and had the pizza box open with a beer bottle on each side of the table. He gave her a grin. “Your feast, ma’am,” he joked, bowing for effect.  
“Why thank you, sir. Truly, you do provide.” Nora took a seat on the couch, snagging the blue wool blanket from Danny’s end, snatching a slice of pizza, and hooking a beer with her ring finger and pinkie. Danny settled in close, lazily slinging his arm over her shoulder and sitting back with his own slice.  
͠  
“Fuck, Danny! Don’t stop!” Nora moaned, looking down to catch Danny giving her a cheeky wink, delving even deeper into his ministrations. And Nora was almost there, but then someone knocked on the door.  
“Nora, it’s Flack!”  
“Fuck!” she hissed, pushing Danny away from between her legs. “C-coming, Flack!”  
“Two words you don’t really wanna hear when going down on your girl,” Danny commented, wiping his face off on the duvet. Nora frowned.  
“Shut it, Messer. Your girl?” She huffed, standing to locate her discarded underwear, tossing Danny his jeans and making her way to the front door. She checked to make sure Danny was decent before unlocking the door and opening it.  
“Flack, what’s up? It’s late, man?”  
“Nora, there’s another vic. Mac wanted me to come pick you guys up.”  
“Shit. Ok, let me get my pants.”  
͠  
“Jeffrey Conrad. 57. He’s an ex-homicide detective from Brooklyn,” Mac informed the second Nora got out of Flack’s car.  
“Conrad? Why does that name sound familiar?” Nora questioned, grabbing a pair of gloves, ducking under the crime scene tape. Mac handed her a picture. It was of a greying man in a uniform. “Wait, Conrad. There was a kid at North Peak. Tyler…Tommy…”  
“Trevor?” Mac replied.  
“Yes! That’s it. Trevor, he was in our class. He killed himself a couple of years ago, I think.” Nora sighed, rubbing her temples. “He was always telling anyone who would listen how much of a bastard his dad was. I guess Jared blamed Trevor’s death on his dad.” Mac frowned. Nora could see that this case was wearing at him too. She tried not to give him a hard time. He was a single dad just trying to do what was best. And she knew he loved her, but she also knew how hellish North Peak had been. She gently touched her father’s arm. “Hey, listen. I know why you sent me to North Peak. I’m fine. Those other kids, their parents were terrible to them, but you weren’t like that to me. You and…” she gulped. “And Claire, you guys gave me a lot of good opportunities. You did your best. And I…I don’t blame you for anything.” Mac gave her a sad smile and nodded.  
“I shouldn’t have sent you away. I’m sorry, Nora.” She gave him as soft smile.  
“Mac! Nora!” Stella called from across the room. Sharing a brief glance at each other, Mac and Nora walked quickly to her side.  
“What did you find, Stella?” Stella handed her a sealed envelope.  
“It has your name on it.”


End file.
